No-chella! Event forced to change its name by huge American festival

MAYA DEHLIN SPACH

- CHARLOTTE MCLAUGHLIN

STEPS star Ian “H” Watkins has said it is “mindblowing” that Coachella has forced his small Welsh festival into a name change.

The social media accounts for Cowchella in Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan went down, and its Eventbrite tickets page had its name disappear amid a complaint, which Watkins said was from Coachella Ltd, the US festival in California.

On Sunday, new social media accounts were set up for the renamed Moo-La-La Festival, hosted by Watkins, actress Claire Sweeney and BBC Radio 2 radio presenter Owain Wyn Evans.

The post explained the “fab new name” and that tickets would remain valid for the inaugural event in August.

Singer and actor Watkins, 49, who is from Llwynypia and now lives in Cowbridge, said they thought at first the social media sites were “hacked”, before finding an email with an “official complaint from Coachella”.

“I'm taking it as a massive compliment that they feel like that our little festival is a little bit of a threat to their ginormous, juggernaut of a machine,” Watkins said.